Stratford officer with seizures returns to 'light' tasks

Published 8:43 pm, Monday, August 31, 2009

STRATFORD -- Police Officer Justin LoSchiavo, who crashed his patrol car into four vehicles while suffering a seizure in June, returned to light duty Thursday at police headquarters.

But LoSchiavo, 31, who had his gun and driver's license seized following the crash at Stratford and Beardsley avenues, is back in a far different role then when hired in June 2006 by Mayor James R. Miron. The hiring has been controversial because a doctor, as well as the police chief and chief administrative officer at the time, advised against it because of LoSchiavo's long-standing seizure disorder.

For now, town and police officials said, LoSchiavo, the son of recently retired Deputy Police Chief Joseph LoSchiavo and town Human Resources Director Linda LoSchiavo, is in civilian clothes, and has been assigned to perform "light work" tasks both in the Records Department and throughout headquarters, Chief Administrative Officer Suzanne McCauley and Deputy Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said Friday.

"We cleared Justin LoSchiavo to return to work Thursday after reviewing a release from his personal physician that he could perform light tasks that don't include any police activities outside the building," McCauley said.

Ridenhour said the work assigned to LoSchiavo includes a range of tasks that the department needs to have done.

"We couldn't have brought him back in this role if we didn't have the work available," Ridenhour said.

But police union leaders say the town last week at first refused to allow LoSchiavo back until he gained clearance from a town-appointed doctor, as other officers have in the past. They say LoSchiavo is being treated differently than other officers, who first had to gain clearance from a town doctor before returning to work, and in some cases, forced into disability retirement when they didn't gain that clearance.

"We are trying to make sure all of our union members are treated fairly and in the same way and we certainly want Justin LoSchiavo to have the chance to return to work," said Patrolman Jamie Rivera, a member of the union's executive board. "But there is a double standard going on here. First, the town said they could not bring him back without a town doctor's clearance, then all of a sudden a few days later they decide they can."

Sgt. Joseph McNeil, the union president, said there are "different rules for different people."